Pneumatic tire and wheel-rim



, (No Model.)

J. s. S'ANGERfZiu H. AQKING SLAND, PNEUMATIC TIRE AND WHEEL RIM.

J6 v fnggzdors. y; Q/M @w m @fiwm/a m AN DREW B GRAHAM.PHOTOUTHQWASHINGTDMD C.

UNITED STATES JOHN S. SANGER, OF ORANGE,

PATENT O FI E.

AND nucnn. KINGSLAND, or BELLEVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

PNEUMATIC TIRTZEVAND WHEEL-RIM.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 548,820, dated October29, 1895.

rp d February 4,1895. Serial No. 537,169. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN S. SANGER, of Orange, and HUGH A. KI GSLAND,of Belleville, Essex county, New Jersey, citizens of the United States,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Tires andWheel-Rims, fully described and represented in the followingspecification and the accompanylng drawings, forming a part of the same.

I0 This invention consists in an improvedmeans of forming aseparable'longitudinal air-tight joint in a pneumatic tire; and theinvention consists in the combination, with a wheelrim, of an air-sac ortire having a longitudinal opening upon its inner side, with sep arableedges adapted to form an air-tight joint, and means upon the wheel-rimoutside of the sac or tire'for pressing such edges into airtight contactwith one another.

The invention also includes a wheel-rim having sloping guides upon itsinner sides and apneumatic tire having a longitudinal opening withseparable edges adapted to form an air-tight joint, clamps embracingsuch 2 5 edges and fitted to such inclined guides, and

means for drawing the clamps inward upon the inclined guides to crowdthe edges of the joint together.

The invention will be understood by refer.- ence to the annexeddrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of part of atire andwooden wheel-rim with the rim partly broken away 'to the center line atthe clamp. Fig. 2 is a section of the same construction on line 2 2 inFig. 1 with the joint of the tire unclamped, as in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isaside elevation of a portion of the tire. Fig. 4. shows the under sideof the metal wheel-rim, with the means for tightening the clamps. 1 Fig.5 is a cross-section of such rim with the tire unclamped. Fig. 6 showsthe under side of one of the clamp-guides for wooden rim. Fig. 7 is asection of the tire on line 7 7 in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is an end view of oneof the clamp-rings with the splice-piece, and Fig. 9 is a plan view ofthe same. The longitudinal joint of the tire A is designated by theletter a in Fig. 2, at each side of which the base or edges of the tireare 50 thickened to form projecting ribs 12 1), formed,

respectively, with tongue 0 and groove 0'. The outer sides of the ribsare provided with ridges d to engage annular books 6 and e, which areformed upon annular clamp-rings F, divided-each at one side to form anopening, by which the ends of the ring may be drawn toward one anotherto contract its diameter. Such ends are shown with ears g projectedoutward through a slot h in the wheel-rim and connected by means of nuts11, So to which are fitted a right and left screw j. The nuts are fittedto notches in the outer ends of the ears 9 to permit their approximationwhen forced together. The clamp-rings are formed upon the outer sidewith bevel f 6 and the inner sides of the wheel-rim are sloped inwardlyto form inclined guides 70.

The wheel-rim, when formed of metal, as indicated at R in Fig. 2, mayhave the sides inclined to form such guides; but where the rim is madeof wood R, as shown in Fig. 5, the guides may be inserted at intervalstherein, as shown in Fig. 1. The opposite guides in are shown formed inone piece with an in- 'termediate tie k',having ribs 10 (shown in Figs.7 5

1 and 6,) which would be shaped to fit the interior of the wooden rim.Such loose guides may be secured by a screw inserted through a hole 0shown in the tie k in Fig. 6.

When the ends of the ring are drawn together and the diametercontracted, the pressure of the bevels f against the inclined guides 70forces the two clamp-rings together, and thus presses the ribs b bforcibly toward one another. Such movement of the ribs presses 8 thetongue 0 into the groove 0', as shown in Fig. 2. Either the tongue orgroove, or both, may be made of yielding material, and such compressionmakes a continuous a-irtight joint upon the inner side of the tire andforms a closed sac, which may be inflated and used for a single-tubetire, if desired.

Where the ribs 1) b are made of soft rubber, the compression bringstheir adjacent surfaces into close contact and also presses 95 p therubber upward and downward, as represented in Fig. 2, the elasticity ofthe material under such compression producing a very tight joint.

Where the tire is used as a pneumatic sac,

the air-tube Z for inflating the same may be formed at one side, asshown in Fig. 2. Such air-tube Z may also be formed on the line of thejoint, as indicated in Figs. 5 and '7, where an inner sac p is shownattached to the inner end of an air-tube 01, passed through the integrallug m, continuous with the tube Z upon the edge of one rib b. Acorresponding recess m is formed in the opposite edge of the rib b. Thetongue and groove are preferably extended around such lug and recess, asindicated by the line 0' in Fig. 7, and

the metal tube 12 is inserted through thelug to prevent the collapsingof the air-passage by the pressure which forms the joint. The tube Zwould be formed with anysuitable airvalve, as indicated at Z in Fig. 5.

The device is operated as follows: The clamp-screw j is turned to relaxthe annular clamps as much as possible, and the ribs 1) and b arecrowded one after the other into the required position between the same,with the tongue 0 in the groove 0. The clampscrew is then turned tocontract the clamps, which, by diminishing their diameter, draws theminward between the inclined guides upon the rim and presses the ribs atthe base of the tire into air-tight contact with one another, as shownin Fig. 2. The tire may then be inflated if it is constructed for use asa single-tube tire; but if intended for use as a double-tube tire thesac 10 within the same, which is shown in Fig. 5, would be inflated, andthe complete tire would then be ready for use.

Each of the annular ringsf is shown made of sheet metal bent into atransverse section adapted to form the hooks e and e and sloping sidesf, which extend continuously around the circle except at the opening,where the lugs g are attached. At this point a splice-piece s isextended across the opening and attached to the ring at one side of thesame. The splice-piece bears upon the outer side of the rib b or b, andthus conveys the pressure to the ribs across the opening of theclamp-ring. The clamp-rings may be made of any suitable material andconstruction to embrace the outer sides of the ribs and to force theirseparable edges together to form the joint, and other means besides thescrew j may be used to contract the opening of the clamp-rings.

If hooks similar to e or e be formed upon one sideof the wheel-rim inthe innermost position of the clamp, (shown in Fig. 1,) it is obviousthat one of the ribs or separable edges of the tire could be engagedby'such hooks and the opposite side forced against the same by a singlemoving clamp-ring.

From the above description it will be seen that the construction isadapted especially to dispense with the inner sac in the formation of apneumatic tire, and thus avoid the complication involved in the use of adoubletube tire by furnishing an effective means of pressing theyielding edges of a longitudinal joint together upon the single-tubetire, and thus forming an air-tight joint upon the same which is equallyadapted to be opened at pleasure for repairing the tire upon the innerside.

Where the double*tube tire is preferred, the construction shown in Fig.5 may be used, in which case the construction of the clamps andwheel-rim furnishes a very strong and durable means of holding theexterior tire to the rim of the wheel.

We are aware. that numerous tire-coverings have been devised to protectan internal air-sac or tire, such covering being provided with alongitudinal opening and the wheelrim being provided with clampsto'press the edges of the tire firmly against the wheelrim. In suchconstructions there is no necessity to form an air-tight joint betweenthe separable edges of the tire, and no means is therefore used to presssuch edges into airtight contact with one another. Our invention isdistinguished from such constructions by the use of a pneumatic tirewith a longitudinal opening having edges adapted to form an air-tightjoint and the provision of means upon the wheel-rim outside of the tirefor pressing such edges into air-tight contact, and thus forming apneumatic sac which may be expanded by the direct introduction of airwithout the use of an internal sac.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what we claim hereinis 1. The combination, with a wheel rim having oppositely inclinedsloping guides upon its inner sides, of a pneumatic tire having alongitudinal opening with separable edges adapted to form an air tightjoint, clamps embracing such. edges and fitted to such inclined guides,and means for drawing the clamps inward upon the inclined guides tocrowd the edges of the joint together to form an air tight sac, asherein set forth.

2. The combination, with a wheel rim having sloping guides upon itsinner sides, of a pneumatic tire having a longitudinal joint withseparable edges, and a clamp formed of one or more annular beveled ringswith openings at one side, the clamp being fitted to such inclinedguides, and means for contracting the annular clamp, as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the wooden wheel rim R, of the inclinedmetallic guides fitted transversely to the interior of the wooden rim atintervals, the beveled clamp rings fitted to such guides, with anopening upon one side of each clamp ring, the said rings being providedwith means to grasp the opposite sides of the tire, and with means fordrawing the clamps inward upon the inclined guides, to crowd the edgesof the joint together to form an air tight sac, substantially as hereinset forth.

4:. As a new article of-manufacture, the

ICO

pneumatic tire herein shown and described, In testimony whereof we havehereunto set having upon its inner side the longitudinal our hands inthe presence of two subscribing IO joint withtongue and grooved edges,the inwitnesses.

tegral lug m formed upon one of the said JOHN S. SANGER.

5 edges, with the valve tube Z inserted through HUGH A. KINGSLAND.

such lug, and the recess m formed upon the Witnesses: other one of thesaid edges, to receive the said JOSEPHINE SANGER,

lug, as and for the purpose set forth. THos. S. CRANE.

